Caye Caulker, Belize Jan 2004Part II: Monday - Tuesday
So, along the southbound road we saw great egrets (above, right) this fun "all roads
lead to Caye Caulker" sign (below, right), lots of lizards, blue herons, hermit crabs (below left). CCITB
Mini-Reserve is a small nature area where many plants are labeled. We walked back past the airport along the "Back Road."
Perhaps this is a good place to say a bit more about the island. There
are only a few roads, all dirt, and the primary modes of transportation
are foot and bicycle. There are golf carts for those who need them or
for hauling around luggage. (See our friend Mr. Penguin driving one of
them at the right.) Where we would see trucks in the US, they have
tractors. The Coca-Cola distribution system is a John Deere tractor
pulling a trailer. (Below left)  
Tuesday Jan 6: my birthday! Today John and I were setting out on the longer snorkel tour with Mario. They provide water and fruit but we needed to bring our own lunch. John got some gouda cheese at Chan's groceries and a "lunch to go" at Vespucci's. I got a carry-out breakfast at the fast food place on the side of Chan's - it says Pirates on the wall but I've heard others call it "Auntie's take out." Anyway, it worked great - egg, sausage, beans and a big tortilla which I turned into a nice roll up and packed for lunch. So we met Mario, a couple from Belgium and a larger group from Italy and we headed about 10 AM on the William Stella. He told us some of the history of CC - it's where the Spanish main would stop for repairs in the 1800's, where it got the name "caulker." He was pointed about the environmental problems caused by Caye Chapel (private resort and golf course) and cruise boats. And then the engine died. Bummer.
Dave dove the Blue Hole today and told us about the highlights. He said he didn't actually see a whole lot of sea life (though he did see a spotted drum fish that nobody else has found yet) but it was unique and this was something he needed to "check off" of his "things I should do in my lifetime" list! Katie and Gail are going to snorkel there tomorrow with Seagull Adventures. Click here to finish the week. . . . Click here to return to the Belize index |
Monday Jan 5: It is amazing that we
consistently sleep in til 8:30 or so even with the pounding going on
next door! John went to the bakery for breakfast goodies and I did my
staple oatmeal with raisins. He tried Cindy's but she's closed on
Mondays, so he had coffee and a smoothie at Vespucci's Table. Then we
set off south along the beachfront road. At the left is what the
"beach" part of the shoreline looks like. Lots of interesting stuff
washed up but no "lying around on" beaches. And that's what I missed on
Caye Caulker - you can't just go plop on a towel and lie there
for an afternoon. Somehow the chairs on the deck just aren't the same.
You get a little
taste of what the jungle area must be like. There is a resource center
that is open by appointment only. Lots of fancy homes or condos way
down at the end. We went as far south as the trail goes.
Later in the week Dave and Gail took the same route and found a
continuation that wrapped around a bit and started back up the other
side 
but
they came to a halt just south of the airport where they "couldn't get
there from here" over a marshy, quicksand-like area, and had to retrace
their steps back around. I was just as glad we quit where we did. 
There is a fire truck (Mr. Penguin had a
little ride on the fire truck below right - you may have to look hard
to find him) and the police department has a small truck; we saw a dump
truck and a few pieces of construction equipment. But only one car.
Since Caye Caulker (south of the split) is only about half a mile wide
and maybe 2 miles long, vehicles simply aren't needed! As we passed the
school on our way back to "town" we were a little surprised that it
appeared to be empty, but then we began seeing children in uniform and
realized it was lunch hour and they all went away to eat. We stopped at
Glenda's for lunch but, even though she serves from 12-3, by 1 PM all
she had were chicken burritos. Since I had already done that twice, we
elected to go to Rasta Pasta's for something else. 
I
sat on the porch for the rest of the afternoon reading, then walked
across the island to the west side (about 4 blocks) to catch the sunset
(right). We showered and all went to the Grand Dragon Chinese place on
Front St. But they had a TV on (picture only) and were playing a CD
that for some reason just drove John crazy so he left and had lobster
at the OceanSide grill outside. He said it was great until it started
to rain - being indoors, we missed that! Our food was good and quite
cheap.
I had shrimp fried rice; others had veggie curry and spring rolls, tofu
curry, garlic ginger shrimp and dumplings. . . . all the food was great
even if the atmosphere was lacking.
We got out our
books and enjoyed the sun. Unfortunately Mario (along with one of the
Italians who was apparently a mechanic) wasted quite a bit of time
before they decided it was a fuel filter problem. [My favorite quote of
the
day - "But it worked fine yesterday!" "Yes, and my grandmother was
alive the day before she died."] However, it was a sail boat, after
all, and there was plenty of wind so we went on to Hol Chan Marine
Reserve under sail.
And Hol Chan is awesome. There were a lot of big coral formations not
far from the boat so I hung out in that area. I
chased this silly blue and yellow grunt fish (above, left) for quite a while.
He insisted on hiding under the coral so finally I just took his
picture there! I saw lots more than I had on Sunday - blue neons, blue
tangs (above right - this is actually Katie's picture but
you can see the blue better), the yellow & black striped Sgt
Major fish (left). John, of course, ventured further afield and found a
"wall" where he saw tons of more interesting things. I have never been
able to interest him in a camera, however.
We then went on to a different spot in Shark and Ray alley. There were
plenty of fish to see along with the rays and sharks and again John saw
a lot more than I did because he went off closer to the reef while I
hung closer to the boat. 
On
the way back, a group of 6 or 7 dolphins found us and were cavorting
with the boat. Of course, I had just finished a roll of film and
decided (bad choice in hindsight) not to change the film til we got
back to land. So I didn't get pictures, but they were fun to watch!
Had birthday dinner at Don Corlione's. Great food - each piece was not
extremely expensive but we had many pieces, including dessert all
around, making it the undisputed winner of most expensive meal! I had
shrimp and veggies in crème sauce and then threw out the
diet and had "forbidden" chocolate mousse for dessert and was not a bit
sorry! See me enjoying it! (Do I look a year older?)